President
Barack Obama
,
seeking to regain momentum in his campaign, battled with former Massachusetts Gov.
Mitt Romney
during a tense and highly anticipated rematch Tuesday marked by repeated confrontations.

Just three weeks before the election, Messrs. Obama and Romney disbanded the debate's town hall-style format in offering competing plans for creating jobs, expanding energy production and taxes.

In contrast to their first debate, they repeatedly interrupted each other, accused each other of lying and appealed to the moderator for more time. Tension was evident as they paced toward each other and pointed.

Mr. Obama, who was under intense pressure from supporters to be more aggressive after his lethargic performance in the first one on Oct. 3, began attacking Mr. Romney less than four minutes into the debate, noting his opposition to the federal auto bailout. "Gov. Romney says he's got a five-point plan…He has a one-point plan," Mr. Obama said of Mr. Romney's economic agenda. "And that plan is to make sure that folks at the top play by a different set of rules."

ENLARGE

ROUND TWO: Former Governor Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama sparred in their second debate.
TKawdfs

Mr. Romney distilled his argument against the president to a simple theme: The country can't afford four more years under Mr. Obama. "If you were to elect President Obama, you know what you're going to get—you're going to get a repeat of the last four years," he said. "The middle class is getting crushed under the policies of a president who has not understood what it takes to get the economy working again." He later added, "The president has tried, but his policies haven't worked."

The candidates fielded a range of questions from undecided voters, selected by the Gallup Organization polling company, in a 90-minute debate at Hofstra University on New York's Long Island.

Mr. Obama took on Mr. Romney's positions on taxes, trade, energy and women's health issues in an attempt to cast him as more conservative than the GOP candidate has suggested in recent days. He also noted the former governor's 14% effective tax rate and, in response to repeated questions from Mr. Romney about whether he had looked at his pension, he said, "I don't look at my pension. It's not as big as yours."

While the first debate was a clear win for Mr. Romney, the second was far more mixed. Matthew Latimer, a former speechwriter to George W. Bush, called it "very aggressive on both sides" and said the constant interruptions could turn off some voters, especially the dwindling number of those who remain undecided. "Voters always say they want candidates who don't squabble. And there was a lot of squabbling." Mr. Latimer said he thought the questions picked seemed to favor the president.

"I've not found it inspiring," said Tim Shriver, chairman and CEO of Special Olympics, and nephew of former President John F. Kennedy. "It feels like a boxing match with attempted knockdowns rather than political rhetoric with an articulation of goals."

On Libya, Mr. Obama for the first time accepted responsibility for the security lapses that contributed to the death of the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans on Sept. 11 in Benghazi. He sought to turn the issue against Mr. Romney, accusing him of playing politics with a national-security crisis.

Mr. Obama said he called the Benghazi attack "an act of terror" during a statement in the Rose Garden the day after it occurred, challenging Republican accusations that the administration had been misleading when it described the attack as a demonstration sparked by an anti-Muslim video.

"I want to make sure we get that for the record, because it took the president 14 days before he called the attack in Benghazi an act of terror," Mr. Romney said.

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Mr. Obama did make reference to the fact that "No acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation," but his Rose Garden comments that day also appeared to reference the video, when he said, "We reject all efforts to denigrate the religious beliefs of others."

The administration changed its description of the attack, eventually describing it as a terror attack linked to al Qaeda sympathizers.

In an energy exchange, Mr. Romney accused Mr. Obama of cutting permits and licenses for domestic production on federal land and in federal waters.

Mr. Obama made the case that his administration has increased domestic oil production. Mr. Romney countered, saying, "I don't think anyone really believes that you're a person who's going to be pushing for oil and gas and coal," the president stood up to interject.

"You'll get your chance in a moment," Mr. Romney said, showing the president the palm of his hand.

Both candidates were correct, depending on what time frame they were referring to. In just the past year, oil and gas production on federal lands has fallen by 14% and 9% respectively, as Mr. Romney said. But in Mr. Obama's first three years in office, oil production—though not gas or coal—was up 13% compared with the previous three years. Federal gas production fell about 9% over that time, and coal production on federal lands was down slightly.

Transcript

Explore the transcript of the second 2012 presidential debate, and tap on yellow notes to read analysis by reporter Jared Favole.

Both candidates made an obvious play for women voters, with recent polls suggesting that group is increasingly in play after a long period of Mr. Obama had an edge.

Mr. Obama noted that the first bill he signed into law was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and put Mr. Romney on the spot over his opposition to funding for Planned Parenthood and his position on contraception access as detailed in Mr. Obama's health care law.

"This is not just a health issue, it's an economic issue for women," Mr. Obama said.

Mr. Romney said his goal is for all women to have access to contraception—a claim Mr. Obama said is false—but he largely stuck to economic issues, citing the number of women who have lost jobs in the last four years and telling a story of how he sought out to hire more women. "I know what it takes to make an economy work," Mr. Romney said.

The president made a concerted effort to stay on offense all night while defending his years in office.

He covered topics his supporters were disappointed he avoided in the first debate. In his closing remarks, for instance, he reminded voters of Mr. Romney's comments earlier this year that 47% of Americans consider themselves "victims," are overly dependent on government and pay no taxes.

Even before Mr. Obama raised his 47% remark, Mr. Romney rebutted the attack by telling voters, "I care about 100% of the American people."

They clashed over their competing tax plans. Mr. Romney said one way he could offset his proposed 20% cut in income-tax rates would be to create a new cap on deductions, suggesting $25,000 as a possible limit, meaning that taxpayers would aggregate their mortgage interest, charitable contribution, and other deductions up to that point. He suggested the cap would be lower for upper-income Americans.

Mr. Obama said it was impossible to find enough deductions to offset the rate cuts. He called the proposal a "sketchy plan" and said the numbers didn't add up.

"Of course they add up," Mr. Romney replied, adding that his credentials in making the numbers work included his work balancing budgets as a governor and leader of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.

They also showed their differences on immigration, laying out their visions for reform. The president highlighted Mr. Romney's support for a controversial Arizona law, parts of which were upheld by the Supreme Court earlier this year, that requires local law enforcement to check immigration status.

Mr. Romney said he only supported the provision that would create a system for verifying the legal status of workers. The Republican nominee also accused Mr. Obama of not following through on a promise to enact a comprehensive reform proposal during his four years in the White House.

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